Inaccurate comparison of internet costs

We would like to clarify some of the details pertaining to the high cost of broadband internet mentioned in Gideon Lasco’s column titled “More expensive in the Philippines” (Opinion, 5/4/17). In his article, Lasco referred to Globe Telecom’s offer of a 1 Gbps plan at P9,499/month versus a similar 1 Gbps plan offered by Singapore’s MyRepublic at the cost of around P2,100.

Unfortunately, Lasco cited only one broadband plan. That plan, by itself, cannot be used to represent the average cost of internet per gigabyte in the country. We would also like to point out that Globe broadband has added a lot of value-for-money offers over the last four years, with price reduction ranging between 70-88 percent.

Currently, a broadband connection with a speed of 10 Mbps is offered at P1,299 per month—a 70-percent decline from P4,299/month for the same package in 2013. The current plan also comes with a data allocation of 100 GB, with value-added services such as a six-month access to contents like NBA League Pass, Netflix and Hooq.

Also, a broadband service with speed of 50 Mbps is currently offered at P1,899 /month, a price reduction of 73 percent from P6,999/month in 2014; while a broadband connection with speed of 100 Mbps is currently offered at P2,499/month, representing an 88-percent price dip from P19,999/month offered for the same package in 2013.

In terms of mobile data pricing, the Philippines currently has one of the lowest prices when compared to the top telco operators in Asia. For instance, the cost per GB of data in the Philippines, under existing prepaid promos, is currently at P48.82, considerably lower when compared to Singapore’s P161.28, Indonesia’s P122.5, and Malaysia’s P116.92.

The declining trend in prices could be attributed to the dynamic nature of the industry and shifting market demands for data. It is in this light that we encourage the government to enable us to build the necessary telecommunication infrastructure needed to meet our country’s growing demand for internet connectivity by removing the permitting and right-of-way barriers.

YOLY C. CRISANTO, SVP, Corporate Communications, Globe